The Most Humiliating Game
by Pyro Vampiress
Summary: When Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna boarded the Hogwarts Express for Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts, six Slytherins decided to challenge them to a game that lasted the whole school year, a type of mix between spin the bottle and truth or
1. Prologue

(summary cont.) dare. Harry and his friends accept the challenge, hoping to win something of great value. The Slytherins have their own ideas in mind though. Who will win? Well you'll just have to read to find out! Ha, ha, ha! My story can also be found at under the penname Padfoots Lass.

Author's Note: This is only the prologue. The rest of the chapters will be longer than this. Thank you for reading and please review!

Harry was on the Hogwarts Express, sitting in a compartment with Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, and Ginny. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville were on their way to their seventh and final year at Hogwarts; Luna and Ginny were on their way for their sixth year. Harry was sitting in his seat, looking grumpy. He had thoroughly intended not to go to school this year after the tragic events at the end of the previous year, which included the murder of Dumbledore, but Ron and Hermione dragged him along with them.

Strangely enough, everyone in their compartment was dating someone else in the compartment. Ginny was snuggled up next to Harry; Ron had his arm around Hermione; and even dear Neville and Luna were holding hands with each other.

"Come on, Harry," Ginny said. "Cheer up!"

"I miss Dumbles," Harry growled.

"I know."

"I miss Snuffles."

"I know…"

"I miss Jimmy."

"I…know…?"

"And I miss Lillers."

"Uh…."

"Look on the bright side, Harry," Ron said bracingly. "No Snape or Malfoy this year! How cool is that?"

"Super dee duper," Harry answered dully.

Suddenly, the compartment door slid open. The six friends all looked up. Six Slytherins entered the compartment uninvited: Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, and Millicent Bulstrode, all looking very ugly.

"What do you want?" Ron asked moodily.

"Cheese crackers!" Nott exclaimed.

"Umm…." Neville said slowly.

"Shut up, Nott," Zabini ordered. "What we really want is to play a game."

He grinned and the others, excluding Nott, followed his lead. Actually, Nott frowned and hung his head in disappointment.

"Let me get this straight," Hermione said. "You guys…want to play a game……with us…….? Is this correct?"

"Yes," Parkinson sneered.

"What kind of game?" Luna asked in her dreamlike voice.

"Spin the butterbeer bottle," Bulstrode said with a nasty smile

"Wait, I've heard of this before," Ginny said. "I know there's a difference between spin the bottle and spin the butterbeer bottle, what is it?"

"You see," Zabini said pompously, "You spin the bottle, and whoever it points to, you kiss, obviously, but you also have to do a dare with that person."

"Not interested," Harry said shortly.

"Wait, this sounds like fun!" Ron said enthusiastically. "But how many dares can you do on a train?"

"That's the other thing," Parkinson giggled. "We do all the spinning here, but we record all of the results of who landed with who, all that, and then we do the dares at Hogwarts. Let me explain, today, we each do one spin, but in separate groups, your group and our group. Then, we record which person for each group got which other person. Then we exchange lists. Each group has the first three months of the school year to think of when, where, etcetera they want to arrange the kisses for each pair of the other group. They also use that time to think up really good, dangerous, embarrassing dares for each pair to do. Each group will have one pair, or one spin, do their dare and kissing each month for the rest of the school year, six months. Follow me?"

"Yes," Neville said nervously. "But-er-what's the point? What happens at the end?"

"All of us, from both groups, go as one to find one of the fairest Hufflepuffs in the school, then that person will judge which group got dissed more by the end of the year, and the group that wins gets-"

"CHEESE CRACKERS!" Nott yelled.

"No, not cheese crackers!" Pansy said impatiently. "The group that wins gets one extremely valuable truth question as a prize-WITH Veritaserum. It can be ANYTHING at all. Anything."

Harry thought it over, thinking it sounded stupid, but then, he thought of the prize. He could force any answer out of any of these Slytherins. He could ask for the location of Voldemort, Snape, and Malfoy, then, he could get his revenge…

"How about it?" Zabini asked, his lip curling.

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna looked at Harry. He looked up at the haughty faces of the Slytherins.

Then, he said quietly,

"I'm in."


	2. Spinning Time

The six Slytherins sat down on the compartment floor in a circle. The six Gryffindor followed their lead. They were all tightly packed inside the small compartment together. Harry looked at the small space of floor that his group surrounded, then looked over at the other group.

"Hey," he said. "Don't you think it might help if we-oh, I don't know-had a couple of butterbeer bottles to spin?" Harry suggested sarcastically.

"Relax, Potter," Zabini smirked. "We've got some. Crabbe, go get the bottles from our compartment."

"Make Goyle do it," Crabbe grunted.

"Okay, Goyle, go get the bottles from our compartment," Zabini ordered impatiently.

"I don't wanna do it; make Nott do it," Goyle snapped.

"NOTT!" Zabini roared. "YOU go get the butterbeer bottles from our compartment! NOW!"

Nott looked at the compartment door with an innocent expression.

"I'll do it if you give me some cheese crackers," he said sweetly. Zabini slapped himself on the forehead. He inhaled in exasperation, then breathed a sigh in a way of trying to control his patience.

"Fine, Nott," he said. "If you go and get the bottles, I'll give you some cheese crackers."

With a whoop of glee, Nott sprang up from the floor and hurried out of the compartment, Zabini shaking his head. Nott returned soon, handing one of the bottles to Zabini and the other to Harry. He then demanded the crackers Zabini had promised him, but when he realized Zabini did not actually have any, he exploded.

"I never promised anything!" Zabini said defensively.

"You said you would give me some, Blaise!" Nott yelled indignantly.

"At Hogwarts. I'll give you some once we're settled in at Hogwarts. Happy?"

Nott considered it for a moment. He then shook his head, and collapsed on the floor, taking back his place in the Slytherin circle. Zabini took that to mean that Nott was accepting the offer, and began to speak.

"All right. I'm spinning first for our group, so I have to wait until the bottle points to either Pansy or Millicent. No same sex partners for the pairings if it can be helped. For your group, you guys have an even number of each. So if the bottle lands on someone of the same gender as you, spin again until it doesn't. As for my group…well, let's start."

"So…" Harry said, looking at his friends, "who wants to go first?"

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna were all silent for a moment. Then, Ginny said, "I'll go," and reached for the bottle they surrounded.

Ginny gripped the bottle, then twisted it. It began to spin around and around in circles….like a merry-go-round, you know. Those things are really fun. I haven't been on one in ages, but I do miss them.

Oh! Um, anyways! Yeah, she spun the bottle.

The butterbeer bottle began to slow down. Ginny bit her lip as she watched it. She hoped she would get Harry. That way, the kissing part wouldn't be awkward at least.

The bottle came to a halt. The neck of it was pointed directly at-

"RON!" Ginny exclaimed furiously. "I have to make out with my BROTHER!"

Ron gaped at the bottle. His ears had gone red and he looked as though he was going to be sick.

"Ohh…" he groaned, and then added in a petrified whisper, "That's just twisted!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Ginny growled.

"Well, I would like to go next, please," Luna stated calmly. "Ron, Ginny, I think you two have to leave the circle."

"Oh…yeah…right….." Ron said grumpily as he and Ginny stood up and took a seat.

Luna reached towards the bottle, her face expressionless, and spun.

The bottle whirled around gracefully. It seemed to take forever for it to stop. Finally, it did. It was pointing at Harry. He made a growling noise in the back of his throat. He liked Luna, but since Ginny had been taken, he was hoping he would end up with Hermione. Luna was just someone that he experienced too many awkward moments around and he felt more comfortable with Hermione. He stood up, taking a seat next to Ginny and crossing his arms. Luna stood up and said nothing. She appeared, as before, quite expressionless about the situation. That just left Hermione and Neville. They looked at each other. Hermione had a pained expression on her face and Neville looked as if he was on the verge of apologizing. They too stood up and sat down in the compartment seats.

"Shall we record our matches, then?" Harry asked quietly. The rest of his friends nodded gloomily. Hermione pulled a piece of parchment with a quill and inkbottle out of her trunk and wrote down their pairs. Then they looked back over at the Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle were left sitting on the floor. Zabini was writing down the pairs on a piece of parchment he had had in his pocket.

"You lot done, then?" he asked, looking up at the sulky Gryffindors.

"Yes," Harry answered stiffly. Zabini wrote his last word on the parchment before speaking again.

"Let's exchange lists," he said. Hermione handed Parkinson their list and Zabini handed Harry theirs. The six Gryffindors all crowded around the Slytherin list.

Zabini and Bulstrode were paired up with each other. Nott and Parkinson were partners. That left Crabbe and Goyle with each other, both of them looking thoroughly disgruntled. Harry smirked. He could see Zabini leering as well, his eyes roaming down the Gryffindor list with satisfaction.

"I can see Hogwarts," Hermione stated glumly, pointing out the window. "We'd better get changed."

"Yeah," Parkinson sneered. "Well, we'll meet up again in three months. That is the first of December. We'll negotiate time and place when it gets closer to then."

The Slytherins stood up, slid open the compartment door, and filed into the corridor without another word. Harry shut the door. The six Gryffindors all began to put on their robes in silence. About a minute later, Nott went flying past their door, his robes gliding behind him, yelling loudly, "CRACKERS! AHAHAHAHA!"

"Nutter," Ron muttered, shaking his head and taking a seat next to Hermione again. The others all sat down too in the same pairs they had originally been sitting in. They all gazed out of the window for a few moments, watching as they approached the castle of Hogwarts.

Then, as the train began to come to a halt, Ginny said calmly, "Well, this sucks."

Nott ran past the door again, yelling wildly about crackers, and the six Gryffindors began to get their luggage together. Harry privately agreed.


	3. A New Year, a Different Year

Author's note: Wow. I've been being cruel to Ron and Ginny. It's not been intentional; I like Ron and Ginny. I feel kinda bad now, like I should apologize…oh well! Happy reading!

The first evening back at school was quite strange to Harry. In his past years of returning to Hogwarts, he had always felt quite happy, not that all of his returns had been pleasant, but he had always been happy to be back. This year, however, a blanket of gloom seemed to be smothering the whole of Hogwarts and its grounds.

Harry looked around quickly once he got off the train, scrutinizing Hogsmeade Station for the large form of his half-giant friend, Hagrid.

"Firs' years please," a dull, gruff voice called. "Firs' years over here…"

Harry turned around. He would have normally smiled at the sight of Hagrid standing there, gathering up the first years, but he couldn't when he saw the expression on Hagrid's face, lit up by the lantern he was carrying. Hagrid's lips were pressed together, forming a line similar to Professor McGonagall's; his eyes were bloodshot and puffy; his brow was furrowed; and his shoulders were slumped, making him look shorter than what Harry knew of his height, and Harry knew Hagrid to be very tall.

Harry caught Hagrid's eye and tried to smile at him. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, but Harry could feel how tight the smile actually was. Hagrid opened his mouth and a pained expression suddenly bore upon his face. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but closed his mouth as if in second thought. He looked at Harry rather sadly, then turned away, beckoning at the first years congregated around him to follow.

Frowning, Harry lead the Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna over to an empty carriage. He stood back to let them climb in first, gazing at the thestral that was ready to pull it. It licked its chops and stared back at him with its blank, white eyes. A strange thought suddenly occurred to Harry: Malfoy would now be able to see thestrals too…

"Harry, c'mon," Ginny said from inside the carriage.

"What?" said Harry, startled. "Oh, yeah."

Harry and his friends walked through the doors into the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts a few minutes later. They then proceeded into the Great Hall. Luna said goodbye to them and went over to the Ravenclaw table while the others sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry looked up at the staff table immediately. Hagrid was not there, of course, on his way with the first years, but for the first time in Harry's attending Hogwarts, Dumbledore and Snape were not there; Dumbledore being dead, and Snape having fled. He looked along the table for a new face that would be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the year.

Harry spotted a new face at the table, but found it was one he recognized.

"Er, Ron," he said tentatively, "why is your dad sitting at the staff table?"

"WHAT!"

Ron stood up, craning his neck to look at the staff table. Sure enough, Arthur Weasley was sitting there, between Professor Flitwick and Professor Slughorn, beaming jovially as he chatted with Flitwick.

"That's my dad!" Ron squeaked. "Harry, that's my dad!"

Hermione and Ginny both looked up too.

"DAD'S HERE!" Ginny exclaimed as fearfully as Ron. "What-why-but…AAAHH!"

"Just-just calm down. Maybe it's a misunderstanding…" said Hermione.

The doors to the Great Hall opened and in entered the usual nervous line of first years, followed by Hagrid. They walked up to the front of the hall as Filch, the caretaker, brought out the Sorting Hat on its typical three-legged stool. Professor McGonagall stood up and explained the way of the sorting to the first years. Then, the hall became completely quiet and the hat opened its mouth to sing.

"I am the Sorting Hat, I am.

I have been for a long time.

Though I am sorry that I have to damn

And sorry that I have to rhyme.

I split you all into separate houses.

It was proved last year that it's wrong.

Students ran everywhere, fleeing like mouses

And evil sang its song.

Maybe if we had stood together, no one would have fighted,

But sadly enough and because of me, everyone was divided.

I hate to do this every year and wish to keep you all united.

Perhaps if we tried it, just for once, the world will end up righted.

We all know how Death Eaters suck.

We all wish Dumbledore hadn't parted.

But I picture him wishing us the best of luck.

And in my mind, he farted."

Many of the students exchanged glances and raised eyebrows at each other. The Sorting Hat, however, continued.

"There is an elephant in my boot.

There is a giraffe in my sock.

Snape is someone I would like to shoot

And tell to suck my-"

"Okay, okay!" Professor McGonagall said hastily. "Just…just start sorting please."

As the new students sat down one at a time to be sorted, the older students were all muttering amongst themselves at the Sorting Hat's words.

"I think that was officially the weirdest song the Sorting Hat has ever come up with while I've been a student here," Ron said.

Once all of the first years were sorted into their houses, Professor McGonagall stood up again to talk. The students went quiet instantaneously. There was an abrupt prickle at the back of Harry's neck. It didn't feel right, he realized, McGonagall addressing them about the goings-on of the year.

"Before we commence with our feast, I would like to make some announcements," she said briskly. "Firstly, I am the new Headmistress of Hogwarts after the events of last year, but that is obvious, of course-"

"Excuse me," piped up a little first year at the Hufflepuff table, "but what happened last year?"

Other students at the Hufflepuff table immediately bore down upon the boy, hissing vehement exclamations at him.

"You dumbass!" a third year girl snapped. "Shut up! What are you, stupid?"

"I wasn't here last year!" he said defensively.

"I wasn't either!" spat another first year boy. "But I still know about what happened last year! Every wizard family in Britain does! And I know for a fact that you're not Muggleborn!"

AHEM.

Everyone looked up at the staff table. Professor Flitwick appeared to have stood up. It was hard to tell though as he was so short.

He said squeakily in a kind of singsong voice, "Dumbledore died. Hagrid cried. Inky binky bonky," then sat down.

Hagrid threw Flitwick a reproachful look. McGonagall glowered down upon the first year boy with her gleaming eyes.

"Anything else?" she asked sharply. The boy shook his head frantically. "Good. Now then, we also have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Ron gulped audibly as Ginny hid her face in her hands. "I would like to introduce Professor Arthur Weasley."

There was a round of polite applause as Mr. Weasley stood up, smiling at everybody. He looked over at Ron and Ginny and laughed. Ron was gaping at him, horrified, and Ginny was shaking her head.

Mr. Weasley sat back down.

"Quidditch tryouts will be held…"

"You have got to be joking," Ron whispered as though someone had just told him it was the end of the world. "Gotta be joking…"

"You do realize what this means, don't you?" Ginny asked tersely. "Spin the butterbeer bottle! Dad's here the year we're playing spin the butterbeer bottle!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville each took their gazes away from Ginny to look up at Mr. Weasley in horror.


	4. The First Day of Term

Author's Note: Well, here it is, and I hope you enjoy it. For all of you fans of the t.v. show LOST, like me, this chapter is especially dedicated. Once again, more cruelty to Ron and Ginny…it never ends. I swear, all you people are probably gonna start a society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ron and Ginny Weasley and have me arrested. Well, if you do that, you won't be able to find out what happens next in the story, so there! PLEASE review; it means a lot to me to get feedback, and happy reading! Sirius es mi familia! La musica rock en! Uh…se hablas espanol?…..

A few minutes later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville got up and gloomily began to make their way out of the Great Hall. Hermione reminded Ron that they were supposed to lead the first years to the dormitory and they went off by themselves. Ginny and Neville remained with Harry. Ginny walked in between the two boys whom were glancing nervously from Ginny to each other. Ginny looked as if she was furious but was trying to hide it. Harry could tell, however, by the expression on her face that she was failing.

"Er, what's the password?" Neville asked. Harry and Ginny looked up and realized they were in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady that covered the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.

"Umm…" Harry said.

"Now watch this," the Fat Lady stated. "Someone will come up to you guys from behind and say, 'I know the password!' within the next ten seconds, just like every other year."

"What're you talking about?" Ginny asked heatedly.

"Harry! Harry! I know the password!"

Harry, Ginny, and Neville swiveled around to see Colin Creevey jogging towards them excitedly. Harry looked back at the Fat Lady, giving her a dirty look.

"Hey, you don't need to be Professor Trelawney to figure these things out ahead of time," the Fat Lady explained airily.

"Hey," Professor Trelawney growled as she walked past the portrait.

"Anyway, Harry," Colin squeaked. "The password is 'Snape's mom is a goat'!"

Harry turned back to the Fat Lady, grinning.

"I like it," he nodded approvingly. "Snape's mom is a goat."

The Fat Lady smiled warmly down at Harry and swung open to permit him, Ginny, and Neville to climb inside the Gryffindor Common Room.

Harry didn't know about Ginny and Neville, but he made a beeline right for his favorite chair by the fireplace. He collapsed into it, closed his eyes, and sighed. Ginny sat in the seat nearest him and Neville bade them goodnight, yawning as he walked up the staircase to the boys' dormitory.

A few minutes later, Ron, Hermione, and the first years joined them in the common room. Ron and Hermione sat down on the floor.

"First years, straight to bed!" Ron called. There was an instant uproar from the first years. Ron jumped to his feet. "Hey!" he yelled. "I am a prefect and if I say to go to bed, you'd better go to bed or I'll get Hermione to put a complex jinx on you that you won't know how to get rid of!"

The first years looked at Hermione, who was smirking, and scrambled up the proper staircases.

"Thanks for that, Ron," Hermione said, grinning. Ron laughed and sat back down. "Hey, guys, I found out you can buy lottery tickets this year."

"What?" Ginny asked distractedly.

"Fourth years and up can buy lottery tickets from Professor McGonagall this year and win up to a hundred galleons."

"Okay…" Harry said slowly.

"I bought one earlier. My numbers are-" she pulled a small piece of parchment from her pocket and unfolded it- "4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42."

"Hmm. When do you find out if you win?" Harry asked.

"Tomorrow morning at breakfast."

"Do you have to push a button every 108 minutes?" Ron inquired.

"What're you talking about?"

"Never mind."

A knock sounded at the portrait. Harry stood up and walked over to it. He pushed it open and was surprised to find Nott standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Zabini lied," Nott said quietly. "He went back on his promise."

"But what are you talking about?"

"Cheese crackers."

SLAM.

Harry shut the portrait over the hole and walked back to his seat. After another half hour, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny went their separate ways and to bed.

The next morning, Harry awoke to Ron telling him he was hungry and wanted to leave. So Harry got dressed quickly on Ron's behalf and went downstairs to the common room with him. Ginny and Hermione were already sitting in chairs, waiting for them. Hermione stood up and Ron walked over to her swiftly. Neither of them said anything, but began making out right there.

"I didn't realize when Ron said he was hungry, he meant for Hermione," Harry muttered as he and Ginny approached. She laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

The four of them set off for breakfast together and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Ron and Ginny kept glancing up at the staff table to watch Mr. Weasley. He appeared to be in just a cheery mood as he had been last night. McGonagall soon began walking along the table, handing out schedules. Harry took his hastily and read it. He had Potions first that day, then Charms, then Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Well, this should be interesting," Ron sighed as he dropped his schedule on the table.

"What, Defense?" Harry confirmed. "Yeah, it should be."

"Could I have your attention, everyone?" Professor McGonagall's voice called out. She was standing up and had a basket full of folded pieces of parchment. The hall went silent. "Starting this year, lottery tickets will be available to students fourth year and above. You can come to me on the proper day and buy one for five knuts and the next day the winners will be drawn. You can win up to one hundred galleons each time. A notice will be put on your common room notice boards to let you know what day you may buy a ticket from me, and the day of the drawing will always take place the following day. Now, last nights winners…." She put her hand over the basket and said a strange incantation. A piece of parchment zoomed up into her hand. She unfolded it and looked down at it carefully. "The winning numbers, for one hundred galleons are 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42."

"That's me!" squealed Hermione, jumping up. "Those are my numbers!"

"Congratulations, Miss Granger," McGonagall smiled. Come up here and show me your numbers, then stop by my office after dinner to receive your winnings."

"Wow, those numbers must be pretty lucky," Harry said as they walked out of the Great Hall five minutes later.

"Or they're cursed," Ron said mildly.

"Cursed!" Harry laughed incredulously. "Are you mental? Those numbers just won Hermione one hundred galleons!"

"Yeah, but I bet they'll turn out cursed…"

Harry and Hermione exchanged glances, then shrugged.

Potions and Charms weren't anything exciting that day. Slughorn and Flitwick basically just lectured the seventh years about their N.E.W.T.s taking place at the end of the year. Slughorn had them brew a quick and simple Loss of Appetite concoction and Flitwick had them read about Phineas Tafuer, a wizard who had almost succeeded in creating a spell that could turn people to stone in five seconds.

Then, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off for Defense Against the Dark Arts class, feeling apprehensive. They all took seats at the back of the room. Mr. Weasley was not yet there. Ron slumped down in his seat, groaning.

"Ron, hey, ron!" Seamus called, sitting in a seat ahead of them. "Is Mr. Weasley really your dad?"

"Yes," Ron moaned.

"Cool," Seamus grinned. "Do you think he'll give us extra house points?"

"He'll probably do everything he can to keep us from getting ANY house points."

"Oh," Seamus turned back toward the front.

"You know," Harry whispered, "we should start discussing what kind of dares to make the Slytherins do. I think we should do it tonight." br / 

"Harry, it's our first day back," Ron said. "We have three months."

"Yeah, but this is N.E.W.T. year," Hermione stated. "We're going to be really busy with work and studying. You and I will be busy with prefect duty. You, Harry, and Ginny will be busy with Quidditch-"

"Okay, I get the point," Ron growled. The bell rang and the class went silent. A few seconds later, Mr. Weasley walked into the room.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" he said jovially, beaming at the class. "I am Professor Weasley, Ron's father."

The whole class looked over their shoulders as one to look at Ron, whose ears were reddening furiously.

"Afternoon, Dad," Ron muttered. Mr. Weasley smiled.

"Well, I really don't have much for you to do today, but I do wish to talk to you all about the year. Firstly, I wish you all to know that I will tolerate no slacking off this year in order to help you pass your N.E.W.T.s. They were very important for your careers. I expect all of you to come into class every day focused and prepared to learn. I want you all to work hard, even if it means doing some extra studying, and I do not want any time wasted. Now, I do understand that all work and no play can put a lot of stress on the brain, so, I would like to introduce you all to a little game I've invented."

"Oh no," Ron whispered.

"The purpose of this game is to humor you and get you to be more relaxed. When I say relaxed, I mean I still want you to work hard, but I want you to do so without feeling a lot of tension. The game is called Wheel of Weasley. Each day you have class with me, everyone will come up to my wheel and spin it. It will land on the face of one of my seven children and a short but amusing story about that kid will appear in front of you, yours to read. I do not have the wheel today; it is in my office, but when you come back on Thursday, it will be set up."

Harry looked at Ron. His face was pale and his ears very red. His mouth was ajar in terror and his eyes were as wide as Professor Slughorn. Dean Thomas rose his hand and Mr. Weasley called on him.

"Please, sir, do you think we could play a version of Spin the Bottle?"

Mr. Weasley laughed. "Certainly not! I strongly disapprove of those games, especially that Spin the Butterbeer Bottle version. Why, Ronald would never play a game like that, right Ron?"

Mr. Weasley looked at Ron, who liked like he was about to faint.

"Uh-huh," he squeaked, nodding.

"You should all know that if I caught one of MY children playing a game like that, they would have my wife to deal with, and she would show no mercy. But if the rest of you want to play a game like that-well, I can't stop you, but I do not approve of such a vial game and I don't recommend playing it. Right, now let's discuss N.E.W.T.s….."

At the end of class, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked out of the room quietly. After they were out the door, Ron said, "I think I'm gonna be sick…"


	5. The Game in Motion

Author's Note: Important stuff going on. Read carefully! No the story is not ALL about Nott's obsession w/cheese crackers or torturing Ron and Ginny. It has a thick plot too. Coming soon, surprise from the Fat Lady. You'll be going, "Whoa, I didn't know that could happen." Not in THIS chapter, mind you, but in the NEXT chapter…. SUSPENSE! Totally spinning around in my chair right now. I do that a lot. Whoa! Um, yeah, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW and HAPPY READING! See, happy face…

Ron did not speak much during dinner that evening. He stabbed at his steak aggressively and muttered obscene things under his breath. Harry and Hermione tried to make light and casual conversation in a futile attempt to create a normal atmosphere. This was hard to do, not only because of Ron, but because Ginny sat on Harry's other side. She was not eating, but drawing a comic strip depicting her putting a Bat Bogey Hex on her father. As Harry sat between her and Ron, he felt it would be in his best interest not to say anything that would upset them further. If he did, they would both probably murder him. Hermione sat on the other side of Ron and Harry was sure she was following his lead, but…

"So, um, Ginny, how was Defense Against the Dark Arts today?" she asked timidly, leaning in front of Ron so that Ginny could hear her. Ron snorted disgustedly and Ginny pressed harder with her crayon on her parchment, mumbling something indistinct. Harry slid his hand in front of his throat and shook his head warningly. Hermione rose her eyebrows at him and continued. "Did you-er…have it today?"

"Yes," Ginny growled, coloring more vigorously. Harry groaned. He knew all about Ginny's D.A.D.A. lesson today. She had come storming into the Great Hall before Ron and Hermione had shown up and started screaming at Harry about it. It had indeed been worse than Ron's experience.

"And, um, how did-how did it go?" Hermione went on. Ginny slammed down her crayon.

"You wanna know how it went, Hermione?" Ginny asked dangerously, finally looking up at Hermione from her comic strip. "First, Dad walked in the room with a box of feminine products, strode right up to my desk, and said, 'You forgot these at home, Ginny dear,'! Then, he announced to the class about his Wheel of Weasley game! Then, after that, he began to talk about various hexes and started to tell the whole flipping class a story about how George and I got in a fight once and he put a Buttock Engorgement Hex on me! I was ten and I spent a whole month waiting for my ass to shrink after it was enlarged to the size of a small bush and he told everyone in my class about this! After that, he began to seriously lecture a kid for JOKINGLY knocking Muggles. Lastly, he asked the class why they enjoy such ridiculous sex-related games like SPIN THE BUTTERBEER BOTTLE and announced that I have never lost my virginity and he was proud of me for it! WHY did Dad have to come and teach here? WHY!"

At that point, Ginny actually stood up. She looked across the hall at her father and pulled out her wand. Mr. Weasley was blissfully unaware of the anger emanating from his daughter and son. He was spooning mashed potatoes into his mouth and reading an evening Prophet. Ginny inhaled and exhaled deeply, then slowly resumed her seat.

"I love my dad," she whispered in a voice of forced calm. "Yes, I do. I love my dad. He's really REALLY pissing me off right now, but I love him and would be very upset if anything bad happened to him."

A few minutes later, Harry decided to ask Ron and Ginny what they thought about discussing their game tactics that night. They both agreed.

"But the question is," Hermione said quietly, "where do we do it? Not all of our group are Gryffindors, so we can't just go to the Common Room…"

"Luna's the only one from a different house," Harry shrugged. "Couldn't she come to the common room with us?"

"I don't think the Fat Lady would let her in. She'd know she wasn't a Gryffindor."

"But what if she didn't see her…?" Harry muttered with a grin.

"What do you mean?" frowned Hermione.

"Can you say, 'DUH!' My invisibility cloak, woman!"

Later that night, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna were walking back to Gryffindor Tower. They had told Luna their idea and Harry had made an errand to his dormitory to retrieve the cloak. Luna was now wearing it.

"This cloak is very spiffy," she said airily.

"Ssh!" Ron hissed. "It keeps you from being seen, not heard!"

They approached the Fat Lady a few minutes later. She had a companion from another portrait with her: a grinning fat man in a pink suit. He was snuggled up next to the Fat Lady and both of them were giggling. They looked down at the new arrival.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked almost mischievously.

"Who's that?" Ginny grinned innocently.

"PASSWORD?" the Fat Lady asked more firmly.

"Snape's mom is a goat," Harry stated, trying not to laugh.

"Shut up!" the Fat Lady giggled, swinging open to let them in.

The group climbed through the portrait hole and went over to a table in the corner of the common room. There, Luna pulled off the invisibility cloak and handed it back to Harry. He ran up to the dormitory and put it into his trunk, then hurried back down.

"Okay," said Hermione, "I think tonight we should try to brainstorm the kisses for the Slytherin pairs."

Harry took out the list and lay it flat on the table.

"Zabini and Bulstrode," he muttered. "How should we arrange their kiss?"

The group sat around the table in thoughtful silence. After a few minutes, Ginny's lip curled.

"I have an idea," she said triumphantly.

Hermione took the job of writing everything down. As no one in the group could think of something for Zabini and Bulstrode that was better than Ginny's brilliant idea, they decided that hers would be chosen.

Next was Parkinson and Nott. A proposal of what to do for their kiss was created by, of all people, Luna. Harry and Ron were both rolling in their chairs at the thought of what she came up with. The fact that Luna could come up with something so embarrassing (and slightly cruel) surprised Harry greatly, but he appreciated it very much all the same.

Lastly, the arrangement for Crabbe and Goyle's kiss was created with a combined idea by Harry, Ron, and Neville. All three of the boys had come up with something that was slightly embarrassing, but when they combined their ideas, it was wickedly humiliating.

It was late when the group finally had all of the Slytherin pairs' kissing arrangements planned. They had entered through the portrait hole at about eight o'clock that evening and was now approaching one in the morning.

"We have to get Luna back to her common room," Ginny muttered, looking around the room nervously. There was no one left, however, other than a few exhausted fifth years studying for O.W.L.s. No one had really noticed Luna that night. No one had questioned her or looked at her wonderingly and Harry was glad for it. He doubted anyone would go to McGonagall, but he could never be entirely sure.

"Well, the fewer people, the better," Harry said quietly. "Luna, if I lent you my map and the cloak, do you think you could make it back to your dormitory without getting caught?"

"What kind of map?" Luna asked curiously.

"It's a map of Hogwarts that shows where everyone in the castle is."

"I think I could do that," Luna smiled confidently.

Harry went upstairs again and returned with the Marauder's Map and his invisibility cloak. He tapped the map with his wand and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Everything on the map appeared. He scanned it meticulously. His heart sank as he realized that there were more people in the corridors than there used to be. He had not actually been out of the dormitory at night since his fifth year and did not realize how much security had tightened. Luna also was not used to traveling the corridors when it was out of bounds.

"Listen, I'm going to go with you, Luna," he said. "Just me though," he added to the others. It'll be hard enough for two people let alone six."

"Then why are you going?" asked Ron.

"Just trust me, I know what I'm doing. Hold on, Luna. I'll be right back."

Harry made another trip upstairs and grabbed a few of the Decoy Detonators he had been given by Fred and George last year. When he came back down to the common room, he and Luna went under the cloak and he held the map. Before they left through the portrait hole, Hermione managed to persuade the few fifth years in the common room to go to bed. They did so quietly, and Harry and Luna went through the portrait hole.

The Fat Lady paid no attention to them whatsoever. In fact, unfamiliar sounds were issuing from her portrait. Harry decided he did not want to know and moved on. He watched the map. The seventh floor corridor was mostly clear for now. Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost was floating along the opposite direction of Harry and Luna. However, Harry stopped walking when he noticed two other names on the map that were in one of the nearby classrooms. One was Nott, the other was Malfoy.

"Luna, come here," Harry whispered. They went over to the door of the classroom and peered in. Harry could see Nott sitting on a desk and Malfoy pacing around. They were talking, but Harry could not hear what they were saying. He pulled out an Extendable Ear and handed another one to Luna. Then, they let the ears work their magic.

"Three months!" Malfoy exclaimed.

"Ssh!" Nott hissed. "Trust me, Draco, we'll need the time to think if we're going to win this game."

"But you're telling me I'll have to wait till the end of your guys' school year here before I can get that Veritaserum question from Weasley? I don't wanna wait that long! He's already upset with me after last year as it is!"

"That's your problem," Nott snapped. "If you didn't have enough spine to work for the Dark Lord, maybe you shouldn't have!"

"Are you calling me a coward?" Malfoy spat.

"It doesn't matter. Just be glad I thought of playing this game in the first place. If it weren't for me, you would probably still be sitting at headquarters, stumped as a beaver as to what to do."

Malfoy made a noise of agitation.

"Fine, but if you guys don't win-"

"We will. We already have some really great plans up our sleeves. And when we do win, we'll make sure to ask Weasley what we need to ask."

"Make sure you do," growled Malfoy. "Because the Dark Lord has a feeling that while Snape appeared to have done the job last year…well, he's not sure about his trust anymore."

"But even if his theory is correct, Weasley probably won't know anyways...won't have been told," Nott said with a frown.

"It doesn't matter. The answer to that question will tell us all we need to know. And there's nothing in the rules of the game that say you only can ask ONE question. If you need to ask a few more-"

"Then I'll ask a few more," Nott finished. "Now, I would like my pay, please."

Harry saw Malfoy roll his eyes, then pull a large box out from under his robes and hand it to Nott.

"My cheese crackers! It's about time."

"Just make sure," Malfoy whispered darkly, "that you DO win. If you don't, it can go disastrous. You know what kind of questions Potter would plan on asking. That, of course, would be the reason that Potter would agree to play. Don't treat this as some silly school game, treat this as: if you win, life is good, but if you lose, life will be Hell and chaotic. Understand what I'm saying, Nott?"

"Yes, Draco. I know what to do," Nott said breathlessly.

"Good. Now, I need to go."

Harry yanked up the Extendable Ears and pulled Luna down the corridor. They raced down the stairs and stopped behind a tapestry.

"Harry, what was that all about?" Luna asked as Harry stared at the map, breathing hard.

"I-I don't know," he whispered. "But whatever it is, it's not good."

He saw no one near them and pulled Luna out from behind the tapestry, only to pull her back behind it. He looked back down at the map, squinting. The little light that came from his wand was not much and he had not noticed Filch's name approaching their tapestry from behind a suit of armor.

"I'm sure I heard running and voices, Mrs. Norris," he wheezed. "Pull back that tapestry for me. Time to test that new Invisibility Rod that I bought. Shows up anything invisible."

Harry's insides froze. They were going to get caught. It no longer mattered that they were invisible. Once Filch's cat pulled back the tapestry and Filch pointed his rod at it, they would be seen. Harry wondered for a moment if it would be possible to slip out from behind the tapestry and back up the stairs without being noticed. He came to the conclusion that it would not be possible.

"Mraow," he heard Mrs. Norris hiss. She was coming closer.

The idea struck Harry in that instant. He pulled out a Decoy Detonator from his pocket, wound it up, and sent it walking up the stairs. He crossed his fingers, hoping it would make the noise in time, before the tapestry was pulled back.

BANG!

A noise like something very large and heavy being knocked over sounded from the top of the stairs.

"Come, Mrs. Norris!" Filch breathed, jogging up the stairs. Mrs. Norris' paws padded behind him.

"Luna, go!" Harry hissed. Luna slid out from behind the tapestry and ran along in front of Harry, who was trying to move quickly and read the map at the same time. The cloak was, miraculously, still covering them.

Luna managed to lead them to the Ravenclaw tower without being caught.

"Thanks, Harry," she whispered. "See you tomorrow."

"Anytime, Luna. Bye," Harry panted. He immediately began to head back to Gryffindor Tower. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville had already gone to bed when Harry came back. Exhausted, he climbed into his own, deciding to wait until tomorrow to discuss what he overheard last night. He fell asleep almost instantly, but decided before he did so that the game he was playing had a lot more at stake than he realized.


	6. Surprise, Surprise

Author's Note: Hey, everyone. Now, if you couldn't tell by the title, this chapter has some surprises in it. Some are just for fun, but some are important in the plot. And just so some certain coughs people are aware coughs no I am not drunk or high as I am writing this. I know some of you coughs some more were wondering, so there's your answer. Now, for the story...

Harry woke up in the morning, feeling exhausted after his adventure in the corridors late last night. He sat up in bed and ran a hand through his hair, rubbing his head. He pulled back the curtains of his fourposter and peered out the window. The weather outside was fairly nice, but he could tell by the wind he heard that summer was leaving.

Knowing he needed to get up and get going, Harry climbed out of his bed, got dressed, then headed into the common room where Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all sitting at a table, laughing hard. Harry looked around at the other occupants of the common room and noticed that they too were all either laughing, smiling, or smirking. He walked up to his friends, wondering if he wanted to know what was going on.

"Harry!" Ron choked, clutching his side. "The Fat Lady...the Fat Lady...she's..." but he just cracked up, rolling around in his chair.

"What?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione squeaked, trying to hold back her own laughter, "she's...given...BIRTH!"

At that point, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and the rest of the people in the common room all burst out laughing. Ron had tears coming out of his eyes and Ginny smacked the table.

"Oh. My. God," Harry said in shock. "That's...insane!"

"It's ridiculous!" Hermione said. "But I'll suppose you want to go to breakfast, right Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry answered. Then, he remembered the conversation from last night. "Listen, I need to tell you guys something. But not now, wait till we get to the table."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny exited the portrait hole together, then faced the picture of the Fat Lady. The Fat Man was snuggled up next to her, smiling fondly, gazing down at the chubby baby in his pink outfit that was being held in the Fat Lady's arms.

"Um, what's his name?" Ginny asked as normally as she could.

"Fat Son," the Fat Lady answered, looking dreamily at her baby boy.

"Are you kidding me!" Hermione exclaimed indignantly. The Fat Lady and the Fat Man looked up at her sharply.

"Do you have a problem with that?" the Fat Man asked with a steely tone.

"No, but I do think it is a cruel thing to name your child!"

"You think I'm a cruel mother?" the Fat Lady asked, sounding a little hurt.

"No, but-"

"Hermione, let's go," Harry said pointedly, grabbing Hermione's sleeve and leading her away before she upset the Fat Couple anymore.

Once they were at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Harry told the others in a whisper of the discussion between Nott and Malfoy.

"Hmm," Hermione said thoughtfully. "When Malfoy said 'Weasley', was he talking about Ron or was he talking about Ginny.

"Oh," Harry frowned. He had not thought about that. He just automatically assumed Malfoy had been talking about Ron, but now that it occurred to him, he could have been referring to either of them. "I'm not sure. He didn't use a first name."

"Well, is there anything either of you two know that we don't, something that might help Voldemort somehow?" Hermione asked Ron and Ginny. Ron's eyes squinted in thoughtfulness and Ginny bit her lip pensively.

"I can't think of anything," Ron said.

"Nor can I," Ginny frowned.

"Nott did say that whatever it was, he said, 'Weasley probably won't know anyways….won't have been told.' So there must be something that only one of you two know that's important, but something you won't realize, I guess." Harry shrugged. "I don't know."

Later that day, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had Defense Against the Dark Arts class again. The three of them were silent as they walked from a free period in the common room to that class. Ron had an expression on his face that suggested he was walking to his death. While Harry did feel bad for Ron, he did find it a little funny.

They took seats at the very back of the room again. This time, Ron took his Potions textbook and stood it up on the desk so that it blocked his face from view. Harry's heart sank as he saw a large wheel floating in the air. There were eight spaces, seven of which held the face of one of the Weasley children, the other which had a "?" on it. At the top edge of the wheel was an arrow and there were pegs along each space of the wheel. Each space contained a thin slot as well. Harry wasn't entirely sure what those were for.

"The Wheel of Weasley," Hermione whispered dramatically. Just looking at it gave Harry chills. He looked fearfully at Ron, but Ron was staying determinedly hidden behind his book.

After a few moments of waiting, Mr. Weasley came into the room.

"Good morning, everyone!" he said jovially. "As you can see, today will be our first day with the Wheel of Weasley. Now, I do have some things to explain about it. We will not, I'm afraid, have time for everyone to spin it each day, so three different people will go per class period. Now, today, I am delighted to say that we have a special guest star. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Vanna White!"

There were many cheers and much applauding as Vanna White walked into the classroom from Mr. Weasley's office. The boys were whistling and stamping their feet on the floor while the girls clapped, gazing at her beauty both jealously and admiringly. Vanna White beamed at the class with shiny white teeth, hugged Mr. Weasley, and stood on the other side of the Wheel of Weasley.

Mr. Weasley asked who wanted to spin the wheel and everyone in the class other than Harry, Ron, and Hermione rose their hands anxiously. Mr. Weasley picked Dean, Lavender, and Susan Bones. All three of them had walked up to the wheel, standing by Vanna White and grinning at their friends. Dean had leered at Seamus and Lavender was mouthing at Parvati to take a picture of her standing next to Vanna White.

Ron had put the book down despite his will not to be seen. He had to watch the results of the spins. He stared at the wheel in horror as Dean grabbed it by a peg, and spun it. Round and round it went, the faces of the Weasley children a blur. At last, it stopped on Ginny's face. Ron let out a sigh of relief, but still watched in fear. A slip of paper came out of the slot under Ginny's picture, and Dean took it.

"Okay, Dean," Mr. Weasley said, "read it out loud to the rest of the class!"

Dean read it to himself first, then began to laugh. Harry could not help but feeling angry. Dean had dated Ginny last year and now he was going to find out something embarrassing about her, and, by the looks of it, enjoy it.

"Okay, okay!" Dean gasped. "It says, 'When Ginny was thirteen, I walked in on her making out with a picture of a member from the Weird Sisters. She kept muttering at intervals, 'oh you are so sloppy, you silly; how about I show you how it's really done.' She began to use more tongue and I stood in the doorway, trying to stifle my laughter. She heard me, however, and her head jerked up. She had lipstick smeared all around her mouth and on the magazine, I had to crack up.'"

At this point, everyone in the class was laughing hard, looking at Mr. Weasley, who was grinning sheepishly.

"It was pretty funny," he admitted. "I know I should have just walked away, but it was too funny not to watch!"

Lavender was next. This greatly bothered Ron because he had dated Lavender last year and did not think he could bear it if she read something embarrassing about him. She spun the wheel, still grinning, and the class went quiet.

Unfortunately, the arrow was pointing at Ron's face when it stopped spinning. Ron sunk low in his chair and everyone turned to face him as Lavender pulled the paper out from the slot. Like Dean, she read it to herself before reading it aloud. She commenced to crack up, slapping her knee. Then she said:

"It says, 'We had all watched a Muggle movie when Ron was fourteen called American Pie. Well, the next day, Ron had found some inspiration from the movie. His other siblings, his mother, and I had been outside and we all walked into the kitchen together, only to find Ron having some happy time with a white cake! It wasn't a pie, but it was close enough. He turned around when he saw us and he had white frosting all over his-um- manly area.' Gee, Ron, I wished I'd known that last year. Did you snog cakes too?"

Everyone in the class other than Harry, Ron, and Hermione were rolling around in their seats, howling with laughter. Ron held the book up to his face, groaning as he sunk as low as he could in his chair. Harry and Hermione were both staring at him, trying not to laugh.

After that horrifying moment, Susan spun the wheel. This time, it landed on the black "?". Susan held her hand out for a piece of paper to come out of the slot, but that did not happen.

"Ah," Mr. Weasley said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "The mystery space. Okay, Susan, you may have your pick of anyone from my family including, unfortunately, my wife or myself. My children are Bill, Charlie, Percy," at Percy's name, Mr. Weasley's expression went wooden, "Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. I know you all know who Ron and Ginny are, and I'm pretty sure most of you know my twins, Fred and George." There was an enthusiastic murmur of assent at this. "Right. Well, Susan, take your pick."

"Hmm…" Susan said thoughtfully. "How about Fred," she said, blushing slightly. Harry knew that Susan had had a crush on Fred during his years at Hogwarts. Hermione had told him after making sure he wouldn't say anything to anyone, especially Fred or Ron."

"Fred it is," Mr. Weasley smiled as a piece of paper was emitted from the slot. Susan read it herself, then out loud, saying,

"It says, 'At home one day, all of our boys decided to hold their own elections to decide who held certain positions in the house, the best being the title of Man of the House to replace me. This was during a weekend and Fred was six years old. Bill, our oldest son, told me the story of when they were all at daycare and each of them had to announce to the rest of the class what they did over the weekend. When it was Fred's turn, he told everyone, 'My brothers and I all had erections.' He had meant to say elections. All of the older kids had started laughing and the daycare ladies opened their mouths in shock, and sent Fred to sit in the quiet chair by himself and he had no idea why.' Poor Fred…"

Everyone laughed at this, considering that Fred never seemed to have anything embarrassing happen to him.

When Defense Against the Dark Arts class was over, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had made a kind of silent vow not to mention anything from the Wheel of Weasley, whether they did so amongst themselves, or to anyone else. Unfortunately, the stories of Ron and Ginny were spread around like wildfire. Harry had been hoping the story would not reach Ginny's ears, but to his dismay, the story of her making out with a picture of a Weird Sisters member had been inquired to her about. When Harry saw her at dinner, she was not eating, or coloring for that matter, but giving her father a death stare from the table. He caught her eye, and smiled apologetically, but Ginny flicked him off. Mr. Weasley gave her a disapproving stare and began to write on a napkin. He held up the napkin so she could see it. It read:

Five points from Gryffindor, young lady. Do it again and it will be fifteen!

Many people watched this silent exchange of feelings between father and daughter. Ginny shook her head, looking murderous. Without saying anything, she stood up, shoving her chair aside angrily, and stormed out of the hall. Harry lowered the fork holding a bite of grilled salmon he had been about to eat, and frowned at the doors of the Great Hall.

"Er, I think I'm done," he said. "I'll see you later, Hermione. Ron."

He looked at Ron before getting up. Ron was not eating either. He was glaring mutinously at his plate of food. Hermione put her hand on his back and began to stroke it consolingly. She looked at Harry from behind Ron and nodded to the doors. Harry nodded in understanding: She would comfort Ron; he needed to comfort Ginny.

Harry stood up and exited the Great Hall. He did not blame Ron or Ginny for being upset with Mr. Weasley. He did rather think he was taking this Wheel of Weasley thing a little too far, but Harry knew that there really was not much he could do about it.

He went up the staircase, hoping to be able to catch up with Ginny. Harry used what shortcuts he could remember, and found himself in the seventh floor corridor more quickly than he would have if he had continued up the normal path along the stairs. He saw the portrait of the Fat Family closing and jogged up to it, calling, "Ginny!" The portrait shut itself in his face.

"Snape's mom is a goat!" Harry exclaimed breathlessly.

"No shit," the Fat Man grumbled as the portrait swung open. Harry heard the Fat Lady telling off the Fat Man for swearing in front of the baby as he climbed through the hole. He realized, however, that it was not Ginny that had just gone through the portrait hole, but Neville. Harry frowned. Where was Ginny then? He searched the common room and even asked Parvati to go up to the girls' dormitory for him to see if she was there. She came down, shaking her head and shrugging. Harry tried vainly to check the boys' dormitory, but she was nowhere in Gryffindor Tower. Puzzled, Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map. He sat on his bed, scanning it carefully.

Harry found Ginny's dot in a broom closet, but there was another dot there too: Lucius Malfoy. Harry's heart skipped a beat. Mr. Malfoy! Not Draco, but his father? This was a surprise, but not in any way a good one.

He leapt from the bed and flew out of the room, running down the stairs, jumping the last four and landing catlike on the floor. Harry raced to the portrait hole and opened it, jumping into the seventh floor corridor. He sprinted in the direction of the staircase, holding the map up to check which floor they were on. He had a bad feeling about this. Malfoy, a Death Eater, alone with Ginny.

Before he knew it, however, Harry felt himself collide into something hard and he was slammed backwards onto the floor. As he felt a large throbbing on the back of his head, he looked up, his vision swimming before him. He could see something blurry towering over him. Harry tried to focus, tried to ignore the pain and dizziness. His sight became clearer and he saw a person standing over him. He shook his head, trying to see better, and saw that the person was Draco Malfoy. Malfoy laughed sourly and Harry felt rage build up inside him.

"Shield charm, Potter," Malfoy said, walking over to Harry's left instead of standing at his feet. His voice echoed slightly to Harry, who felt himself becoming dizzier. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Why are you here, Malfoy?" Harry spat, shaking his head again.

"Don't worry about that, Potter. I'm leaving now."

Harry began to stand up, but felt a fresh wave of dizziness, and fell over, fading into blackness…

When Harry woke up, he looked around wildly. Malfoy was nowhere in sight. He sat up, no more dizziness, and massaged the back of his head. He felt a little dried blood there, but he didn't really care. He was fine now.

Harry picked up the map, grateful that Malfoy hadn't noticed it, and searched for Ginny again. She was still in the broom closet with Lucius. It was on the fourth floor.

Harry pulled out his wand and raced down the staircase. He had to get to Ginny! He sped past Luna who said, "Harry, I figured out how to change a bluejay into a mushroom, isn't that exciting?"

Harry ignored her, running on. He passed Romilda Vane who said, "Hey, Harry, I've got a drink that I want to give to you that actually has Love Potion in it, but that you're not supposed to know about because I want to have your children except now you do know about it because I was completely obvious and just told you, you want it?"

"Leave me alone, dammit!" Harry exclaimed. He found the fourth floor landing and searched its corridor for a broom closet, his wand at the ready. No one else was around that he could see. Watching the map, Harry found himself in front of the broom closet door. He raised his wand, put his hand on the handle, and pulled…

Except it was locked so it didn't open.

And you were expecting a dramatic ending…


	7. Let the Games Begin

Author's note: After the suspenseful ending of the last chapter smirks, not much is learned about the plot of the bad guys while reading this chapter, unfortunately, but we will find the answers to those questions later on in the story. However, in this chapter, we jump forward in time a little bit and the action of the game begins, what you've all been waiting for. (If that's not what you've been waiting for, then I don't know what is.) RAnyway, happy reading and please review because it makes me smiley. SMILEY! You: Um, ok, I'll review. Just…take your computer and go to the nearest insane asylum complete with solitary confinement. Me: I'm sorry, but I just recently escaped from there and I'm trying to avoid it (although the padded walls were fun to bounce around off of and giggle like hell). Lol.

Harry made a noise of frustration, stood back, and pointed his wand at the doorknob, yelling, "Alohomora!" The door burst open and Harry strode in to find Ginny sitting there on a bucket, looking shocked, and no Lucius Malfoy.

"Ginny!" Harry exclaimed, rushing over to Ginny and giving her a hug. He crouched down to be at her eye level and asked, "What happened? Where's Malfoy?"

"Malfoy? I don't know," Ginny answered. "Why am I in a broom cupboard?"

"What-you…you don't remember?" Harry asked carefully.

"No. The last thing I remember is walking up the staircase to go back to Gryffindor Tower. As I walked passed the fourth floor corridor, I remember seeing Malfoy's face pop out of nowhere and….and that's it."

"He must have modified your memory," Harry growled. "Dammit. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I don't think so," Ginny replied, examining her body parts. "Let's…let's go back to the common room, shall we?"

"No," Harry said firmly. "We have to tell McGonagall about this. Both of the Malfoys are Death Eaters and they were here in Hogwarts."

"Both?"

"Draco too. I would have gotten here sooner if it hadn't been for the fact that he hit me with a Shield Charm as I was running over here. I asked why he was here, but he just said not to worry about it and that he was leaving. Then, I passed out and when I woke up, he was gone."

"Well, that is weird," Ginny frowned, standing up. "Okay, let's go to McGonagall's office then."

Harry and Ginny came out of the broom closet together and went down the staircase to the headmistress's office. They passed Ron and Hermione, who gave them questioning looks, but Harry told them he would tell them what happened later.

When Harry knocked on the door to Professor McGonagall's office, she opened the door and gave a groan at the sight of Ginny and him standing there.

"Oh, no," McGonagall moaned.

"Nice to see you too, Professor," Harry said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, Potter. It's just that whenever you personally come to me like this, I'm about to hear some bad news. Well, come in, sit down, and tell me."

Harry and Ginny sat down in chairs next to each other, took some cookies against their will, and both began to tell the story of how the Malfoys were in Hogwarts.

"But…that is impossible," McGonagall said worriedly.

"Obviously, it's not," Harry shook his head. "Unless, that is, you don't believe us."

Harry looked at McGonagall with a slight scowl, remembering how he had tried to tell her last year that Draco Malfoy was up to no good, but that she dismissed what he had told her. She looked at him, and frowned a little.

"Potter, I am sorry I did not look more into what you said to me last year. Believe me, I am," she said quietly. "Forgive me, but I just can't think of how it might be possible for either of the Malfoys to get in here. We've strengthened security measures tenfold this year. Unless there is a traitor amongst us once more that has told the Dark Side about these measures, then I do not see how anyone could have gotten into Hogwarts that shouldn't have."

"Who knows about the security spells and stuff?" Ginny asked.

"Well," McGonagall sighed, "I do, obviously. Your father does. Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Professor Slughorn do. Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Nymphadora Tonks do as well, and I know for a fact that none of them would ever betray us. They have all proved their loyalty."

"There must be some kind of Dark Magic that Voldemort is using, or teaching his followers to use," Harry said more to himself than to Ginny or McGonagall, who winced at him saying Voldemort's name.

"Well, I don't know," McGonagall sighed. "I do trust you, Potter, okay? I will keep a sharp eye out for anything strange. Let me know if anything else weird happens, all right?"

"Right, Professor," Harry nodded.

All was calm for the next three months. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna had their dares and kisses ready and staged for the Slytherins. Harry had received a note in Potions class from Zabini that told him they were to meet the Slytherins at the trophy room on the first of December at half past seven.

"You don't suppose this might be a trap, do you?" Hermione asked on the last day of November. Harry, Ron, Neville, and her were all working together in the Common Room on a difficult Charms essay.

"What're you talking about?" Ron questioned, looking at his parchment pensively.

"Tomorrow night," Hermione said with an air of obviousness. "Us, the Slytherins, the trophy room…ring a bell?"

"What do you mean by a trap, though?" inquired Neville. He made a noise of frustration and crossed out yet another sentence of his essay with his quill.

"Like a trap to get us in trouble," Hermione answered. "Like the kind," she looked at Harry and Ron pointedly, "that Malfoy tried to set to get you two in trouble in our first year, when he pretended he wanted to duel you, remember?"

"Yeah," Harry frowned. "I remember, but I don't see how this could be a trap. I mean, we won't be out of bounds when we meet them. And I know for a fact that this game isn't made up. What with what Luna and I overheard Malfoy and Nott saying to each other, I think that they're definitely using the game for something."

"Well, I suppose you're right," Hermione said a little uneasily. Then she sighed. "I don't know. I just want all this business with V-Voldemort to end already. I mean, when are we going to go looking for the-"

"The ingredients for our de-Constipation Potion for Slughorn?" Harry cut her off, looking up from his essay to catch her eye. "Well, today's Thursday and it's due on Tuesday, so let's do it Sunday, okay?"

"Yes, right, Sunday sounds good," Hermione nodded, looking back at her essay. Neville roaised an eyebrow, looking from Harry to Hermione in confusion. Ron looked up for a brief moment, then went back to work.

Hermione had almost mentioned the Horcruxes, the terrible magical objects that were the key to defeating Voldemort. Excluding any children of Death Eaters, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were the only students at Hogwarts that knew about how Harry had to continue Dumbledore's mission of finding the remaining Horcruxes, and then finish off Voldemort. This was not something that Harry was keen on having Neville know, especially since Neville almost had this fate himself.

The next day, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna went to the trophy room together after dinner. They found the six Slytherins in a corner of the trophy room, all with their arms crossed.

"Oh, yeah, we really want to see you guys, too," Ginny rolled her eyes in satire at the grumpy expressions on the Slytherins' faces. Zabini walked away from the wall he had been leaning on.

"Watch your mouth, magazine snogger," he sneered, his lip curling. Ginny stepped forward threateningly and Harry grabbed her arm.

"I'll put a hex on you, Blaise," Ginny growled. "Believe me, I'm not afraid to."

"Let me guess," Zabini said in mock thoughtfulness. "The Bat Bogey Hex, by any chance? That seems to be the only one you know how to do. Although I heard one of your brothers put on an Ass Enlarging Hex on you once. Perhaps you've learned that one from them?"

Ginny raised her wand, but Harry grabbed her by the wrist and tried to pull it down.

"You know, Zabini, I bet if your slutty mother taught at Hogwarts we would learn a lot of even more embarrassing things about you," Harry snapped.

Zabini raised his own wand, mumbling darkly, "Why you-"

"Blaise, they're not worth it," Nott said calmly, pulling Zabini away. "Let's just shut up, eat cheese crackers, and do what we came here to do, okay?"

Everyone in the room looked at Nott. He pulled a box of cheese crackers from under his robes and began to eat them, looking innocent as can be. My dog did that when I discovered her licking crumbs from her lips and my bologna sandwich that I had set on the counter to pack in my lunch for school gone. Harry eyed the box, recognizing it as the box that he had witnessed Malfoy giving him.

"Where'd you get those, Nott?" Harry asked casually.

"A friend," Nott responded.

"What friend?"

"His name's Herbert. He's my invisible friend."

"Ohhh," Harry nodded sarcastically.

"No, really, he's right here." Nott gestured at the space next to him and a deep voice that was completely unlike anyone's in the room said, "Hey."

"Wow, that's bizarre," Ron stated, shaking his head.

"Anyway!" Parkinson exclaimed impatiently. "Can we begin, please?" Everyone went silent at once. "Okay. Today, we do a coin toss to decide which group will have to have a pair do their kiss and dare for this month." Parkinson pulled a galleon out of her pocket. "Weasleys, this is called a galleon. You probably aren't very familiar with them." Parkinson smirked while Ron and Ginny glared. "I'll flip it. Potter, you call which side you want." She placed the galleon on her thumb and flicked it up in the air.

"Heads," Harry said. The galleon landed on the floor and Harry and Parkinson bent over to see what side it landed on. Nott made a farting noise with his tongue, then giggled. Harry and Parkinson cast dirty looks at him before looking at the galleon.

Well, let's put it this way, it didn't land on the side Harry picked.

"Ha!" Zabini exclaimed. "You lost the coin toss. That means that one of your group's pairs has to perform their kiss and dare this month, the first month. The next month, one of our group's pairs will have to go. Tomorrow, we'll all go together to find the most just Hufflepuff we can and they will watch all of our-er…performances, if you will. Today, you guys need to pick which pair you want to perform first. You have five minutes."

Harry raised an eyebrow at Zabini's directing them. He and his friends walked away from the Slytherins and got in a circle to make their decision.

"How much you wanna bet that they charmed that galleon to land on the side they preferred?" Ron grumbled, casting a dark look at the Slytherins.

"You're probably right," Harry agreed. "So, who should we have go first?"

No one said anything.

"Well," Hermione spoke up, "we should probably have the most obviously embarrassing pair go first. That way the second two pairs won't seem as much of a big deal."

"Yeah, but we don't know who's dares would be most embarrassing," Neville frowned.

"Well, that's true. Okay, we'll just have to find a way to decide."

"Ron, can we just go first?" Ginny asked moodily. "I want to get our dare over with."

Ron sighed. "Yeah, I guess." He ran a hand through his hair. "Damn, this sucks."

"Okay," Hermione nodded. "And after them?"

"If Harry does not mind, we will go next," Luna stated. She turned her protruberant eyes to Harry.

"I suppose," he nodded grudgingly.

"Then that just leaves me and Neville," Hermione told them. "Okay, well, let's go tell them then."

"You lot done yet?" Bulstrode asked impatiently.

"Yeah," Harry answered. They walked back over to the Slytherins and waited for them to speak.

"Your first pair is…?" Zabini asked.

"Me and Ginny," Ron mumbled, scowling at the floor. Zabini's lip curled.

"Right. Well, we planned your kiss to take place on a school day." Zabini pulled out a calendar from his bag. "So, how about on Monday the eleventh? Oh wait! You don't have any choice! It will take place on Monday the eleventh and in the Great Hall at a quarter after eight that morning. The dare will take place on Sunday the seventeenth at eleven o'clock that night. Meet us at the quidditch pitch and you'll receive the details of the dare. I think that's it now. Goodbye!"

Zabini led the other Slytherins out of the trophy room, laughing.

"Oh, this is bad," Ron said, looking mortified. "That's at breakfast and…and Dad will be there!" He stared at Ginny who stared back in equal horror. At the same time, both of them groaned.

"That's really bad," Ginny said as they made their way out of the trophy room. "Like, really, really bad!"

Harry put his arm around Ginny as they walked. He tried to think of words to comfort her, but none came. She was right.

On the morning of the eleventh, Harry woke up early. He got dressed and went in the common room to find Hermione sitting on the floor with Ron lying down beside her, his head in her lap. She stroked his hair, trying to give him comfort. He just stared up at the ceiling, his eyes wide and his expression blank. Neville was sitting with his back to the fire, watching his friends, and Ginny was sitting in an armchair with her arms wrapped around her knees. When Harry came in, he prodded Ginny out of the chair so he could sit in it and let her sit on his lap as he wrapped his arms around her.

At eight fifteen, the Slytherins instructed Ron and Ginny to perform their kiss on top of the table, and they stood up there, growing as red as their hair. The kiss had to be ten seconds long (that went for everyone else as well), and Ron and Ginny would be watched from the Slytherin table through Omnioculars to make sure they were not pretending. All of the teachers and students noticed the siblings standing on the table and watched curiously. Ron and Ginny leaned closer to each other, opened their mouths, and kissed.

Harry used his watch to time them and whispered, "time" when their ten seconds were up. They immediately broke apart and the hall broke out in whispers from the students who had just witnessed that. Professor McGonagall and Mr. Weasley both came striding down furiously from the teacher's table and over to the Gryffindor won. Ron and Ginny had hastily climbed off of the table, their faces burning, and watched in horror as Mr. Weasley and Professor McGonagall approached, both looking livid. They beckoned at the Weasley siblings to follow and lead them out of the Great Hall.

Harry felt extremely sympathetic towards his best friend and his girlfriend and began to wonder why he had even agreed to play this stupid game in the first place, forcing them all to go through such humiliation.

And then it hit him. It was because of Voldemort, he realized. It was all because of Voldemort...

The rest of the day seemed to move quite slowly. Ron and Ginny had been given a detention, but that was not the worst part of it.

On the seventeenth, Harry and his friends all continued to look at the clock, awaiting the dare that was bound to be embarrassing. Ron and Ginny were as nervous as could be, but Harry did not know what to do to make them feel better. The Slytherins could not seem to wait, and that had to mean that whatever they had planned was bound to be deadly.

At half past ten o'clock that night, Harry retrieved his invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map. He, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville had met Luna in the Entrance Hall. It was hard to fit six growing people under one cloak, they realized quickly. It was luck, in Harry's opinion, that got them unseen to the quidditch pitch that night. By the time they did get there, it was five minutes until the hour. The six Slytherins were already there, wearing malicious grins. Nott was holding his school bag. Harry had a bad feeling unfortunately that whatever was in the bag was not cheese crackers.

Nott pulled out a box of cheese crackers and began to snack away. Well, he thought, I know there is definitely more than just cheese crackers in there at any rate.

"Ah, so glad you showed up," Zabini leered. "Weasleys, please step forward." Ron and Ginny looked at each other, then took a step away from their friends, defiant looks on both of their faces. "Now, for your dare. We dare you, Ron and Ginny Weasley, to take the decorations we have here with us, and heavily decorate Professor McGonagall's classroom with them."

"That's...it?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow. The Slytherins exchanged evil glances with each other. "Obviously, that's not it," Ron muttered, looking away.

"Nott, show them what they're dealing with."

Nott reached into his school bag and pulled out a variety of garish items. There were pink streamers; large and pink paper hearts; pink chalk; huge pink stuffed bears that were enchanted to say in an annoyingly cute voice, "I love you!" every time a person looked at it; pink balloons; and pink ribbons. How it all fit in Nott's school bag, Harry had no idea to.

"Here's how it works," Parkinson grinned as Ron and Ginny gaped in horror. "The streamers must be hung up all around the upper areas of the classroom. The balloons must litter the floor everywhere. The desks must have ribbons tied to them to form bows. The hearts must hang against the walls. The bears must be placed all along the walls of the classroom, one sitting at Professor McGonagall's desk. And you must write on the blackboard with the chalk we provided what it says on this piece of parchment. Word for word and make sure your names are visible." Parkinson pulled the piece of parchment from her robes and handed it to Ginny. Ron leaned over and both of them read what it said to themselves. Ron's ears turned blood red and Ginny's face lost all color completely.

"You-are-KIDDING ME!" Ginny raged loudly.

"You see, we thought it would be a good idea to meet outside and away from the castle rather than in it," Zabini smiled, his lip curling.

The twelve of them began to make their way back towards the castle. Outside the doors, they met the Hufflepuff girl that both groups had agreed to be the judge. Her name was Julie Taylor and she had seemed to be one of the fairest people they had met. She followed them down to the dungeons as they made their way to McGonagall's classroom, which Hermione unlocked with her wand.

"Well, here you are," Nott said, handing the bag to Ron. "Get going then."

Ron and Ginny began to decorate as they had been instructed. The hardest part was the bears, because it was hard to carry them around and put them in their places without looking at them and setting them off. After setting up the decorations, Ron and Ginny headed to the blackboard. Ron wrote the first sentence with the obvious pink chalk: So cute, so cuddly, so sugary sweet, Professor McGonagall!

Ginny wrote the next sentence: Big bear hugs and smoochy kisses! We love you!

Then both had to sign their names below in large, clear handwriting. The two groups plus Julie then began to make their way out of the classroom, the Slytherins laughing their hearts out as silently as they could.

"Great!" Zabini said. "The best part of the dare, of course, is the reaction. McGonagall always enters her classroom for the first time each day at eight fourty-five every morning. I know that half of you have that class first tomorrow, but for the three of you that don't-and you, Taylor-must come by the classroom also for a little bit to witness her reaction. Good luck!"

Harry and his friends watched the Slytherins walk back to the dungeons, cackling like hyenas. Julie Taylor watched them too, then turned to Harry and his friends.

"Wow," she said softly. "I feel really bad for you." Without another word she began to walk away too. The others just stood there in helpless shock.


	8. The Storm Before the Calm

Author's Note: Ok, in the prologue of this story, I said it could also be found under the penname Padfoots Lass. I didn't mean for this site, but at harry potter fanfiction .com. I have an account there and that is where I originally started this story. Just wanted to clear that up. Also, I just started something new where you can go to my profile page where I will post a good estimate of when I should have which story updated when. I'm hoping that that will be helpful. Now, chapter eight. PLEASE review and HAPPY reading!

Harry woke up the next day to find Ron sitting up in bed, staring off into space with his arms wrapped around his knees. His eyes were red and Harry wondered if he had even slept at all that night.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Ron," Harry lied. Ron snorted in disbelief.

"Yeah, I'll just be completely humiliated-again-and get detention for a week with McGonagall," Ron said sarcastically. "You know, no big deal…"

Harry's heart sank. He knew he would not be able to cheer Ron up and it upset him. Both Ron and Ginny had already gone through enough humiliation this year. As Harry got dressed, he had a strange realization: He and Luna would be the next ones that would have to do an embarrassing dare. Not to mention, while Harry liked Luna, he felt extremely awkward towards the idea of kissing her. The gossip that would spread if Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood shared a kiss…Harry didn't want to think about it.

"If it makes you feel any better," Harry said quietly, throwing Ron his Hogwarts uniform, "the rest of us will soon be going through some horrible humiliation of some kind or another fairly soon. And for…for today, you won't be alone, Ginny will be going through the same thing."

"Yeah, I guess," Ron shrugged, finally getting up and dressed. He and Harry proceeded down the steps to the Common Room and walked in silence with Ginny, Hermione, and Neville to the Great Hall.

At the Gryffindor table, Harry and the others watched the staff table and waited for Professor McGonagall to stand up. About a minute after she left the hall, they got up too and left as a group. Luna and Julie Taylor had joined the Gryffindors in their doomed walk to McGonagall's classroom.

When they got there, McGonagall was standing in the middle of her classroom, staring around in shock and confusion. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Taylor walked so they were just barely inside the room. They soon found themselves being pushed out of the way by the six Slytherins, who had wanted to come and see.

Professor McGonagall read the blackboard.

At that moment, Ron and Ginny both groaned as McGonagall slowly turned around to look at the group of people standing there. By then, other students had arrived for class. The newcomers stopped and stared around too, letting out puzzled exclamations. They all read the messages on the board and turned to Ron and Ginny, grinning.

McGonagall strode over to the Weasley siblings, looking furious, her mouth as thin of a line as Harry had ever seen. He himself gulped: McGonagall's mouth was always thin when she was angry or stern. Ron and Ginny cowered as their headmistress and Transfiguration teacher towered over them.

"What," she said in a quiet voice that would not have been nearly as deadly had she said it loudly, "is the meaning of this, exactly?"

"Umm…you're-well, we," Ron stammered nervously.

"Uh, what-what my brother's tr-trying to say is, er…." Ginny stuttered.

"Yes?" McGonagall asked sharply while the other students were trying with immense effort not to burst out laughing.

"Well, Ron and I…Ron and I think that you're really a…a great teacher and we-we wanted to let you know how much we, um, appreciate you," Ginny smiled weakly.

"Oh really?" McGonagall said dangerously, raising an eyebrow. "Somehow, I have a hard time believing that." She looked around at the sniggering students and silenced them with a look. "Weasleys, wait for me outside the room while I go to my office for a moment. The rest of you, sit in your seats."

McGonagall strode toward her connected office, her nostrils flaring. Ron and Ginny, heads hung, walked out of the classroom while taking in the fresh insults.

"Gee, Ron, I'm seriously starting to feel embarrassed that I actually dated you!" Lavender smirked. "You do dirty things with cakes and you have a crush on McGonagall! Disgusting!"

"Wow, Ginny, I used to be upset about our breakup, but now that I know you've got the hots for McGonagall…well, I'm more like relieved," Dean sneered. Harry felt a hot surge of anger and clenched his wand tightly. He had always liked Dean, but since Ginny had started dating him last year after dumping Dean, he had been quite the asshole to Harry.

Ron and Ginny went out the door with more haste, their faces turning red. Harry frowned at the door before heading to a seat at the back next to Hermione, who shared the same kind of sympathetic expression on her face.

McGonagall returned from her office, her head brushing against a streamer and knocking it down. She made a noise of frustration and exclaimed, "Oh, for goodness sakes!" She lifted her wand and all of the "decorations" disappeared, along with the writing on the board. She started back towards the classroom door, but then stopped at the sight of Luna, Taylor, and the Slytherins. "Why are you all here? None of you belong in my class, now shoo!" They hurriedly did as they were told and headed out of the door in front of McGonagall.

McGonagall stared down Ron and Ginny, slamming the door shut behind her. The Slytherins, Luna, and Taylor turned the corner of the corridor, but stayed there so they could listen. Everyone in the classroom, meanwhile, was staying as silent as possible, other than occasional outbursts of laughter, so that they could hear McGonagall's raging storm.

"How DARE you!" she burst furiously. "This is absolutely ridiculous! You are in your final year at Hogwarts, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Weasley, you will be in your final year soon as well. At this point, I expect some maturity in my students!"

The classroom door opened and, to Ron and Ginny's horror, Mr. Weasley stepped out, looking grim.

"Thank you for allowing me to use your fireplace, Minerva," he said, with tight lips. He turned to Ron and Ginny. Ron audibly gulped. "Why did you do what you did?"

"Oh, do not bother to ask them that, Arthur; I already have," McGonagall said coldly. "You two will soon be out in the real world! It is time you took your careers as students seriously if you wish to succeed! A prank such as this is a complete waste of time, a show of disrespect, and must have been done in the middle of the night, when you should have been in your beds, as you both certainly know! That especially goes for you, Mr. Weasley, having been caught for being out of bounds before! I am absolutely appalled with the two of you! I would have thought that with the events with Voldemort occurring, you might have taken your lives a little more seriously! Twenty-five house points from Gryffindor from each of you, a week's worth of detentions, and you will participate in Hogwarts' new School Services program for a week!"

"School Services program?" Ron asked fearfully.

"Yes, Weasley, School Services program. It is a new punishment program we have developed in which you spend the time sentenced doing laboring services to the school. Your first detention will be tonight at seven o'clock. Come straight to my office and you had better not be late! After your detention, you will, with supervision, perform your first school service. I'm not sure that I have ever felt such shame from students in my own house! Miss Weasley, get to your first class; Mr. Weasley get inside to mine now and take a seat."

Ron slumped past his father, avoiding his disappointed eye, and went into the classroom while Ginny walked down the corridor.

Harry watched Ron take the seat on Hermione's other side and put his head down on the desk. Harry and Hermione exchanged unsure looks with each other; everyone in the room had heard every part of the dressing down that had taken place in the corridor.

Ron lifted his head up and looked at his friends in a tired way. "This is the most humiliating game I have ever played by far…"

For the rest of the day, Ron had to endure comments from people of all houses about why he had decorated McGonagall's room like that and written what he had written on the board.

"So, Weasley, you dig the headmistress, huh?"

"Ron, is this your way of coming out of the closet? I mean, all those 'feminine' decorations and that girly wording, you sure you're not gay?"

"Wow, I never thought Weasley was such a fruitcake! Granger should definitely dump him. I wonder if she's jealous that dear Ron now loves one of their teachers more than her."

"Hey, Ron, I heard you're doing the school some service. That's awfully nice of you. You wanna do us all a service and go back to your loony house with your whack job family?"

By then Ron's ears had reddened and his fists had clenched extremely tightly. The Slytherin that had just insulted him walked away with a pack of friends, all laughing.

By dinner, Ginny sat the table, fighting back tears. Harry held her, trying to calm her the best he could. At ten minutes till seven, she and Ron left the table gloomily and made their way to McGonagall's office.

Harry and Hermione stayed up in the Common Room, waiting for them. Hermione fell asleep in her armchair at a little after one and Harry found his own eyelids getting heavier, heavier….

"Harry, wake up," Ginny whispered groggily. Harry opened his eyes to find his vision half blurry. He sat up and realized that his glasses had fallen askew while he had been sleeping. Ginny and Ron had both collapsed on the floor, looking fatigued. Hermione had awoken too and was now yawning.

"So, how'd it go?" Harry asked.

"Well, for our detentions," Ginny growled, "McGonagall made us give her classroom an extremely thorough cleaning. No magic. Took us about five hours till she decided she was satisfied enough. After that, we got to do our first 'School Service'. We had to go in and out of the lake and pull these gross weeds out while Filch and his idiotic cat supervised us and gave us a hard time about whether we had gotten the whole weed or not and a lot of other bullshit."

"The Slytherins left us a message with the Fat Lady," Ron said quietly. "They want us to let them know when they have to meet us so we can discuss their first part of the 'game'."

"Right," mumbled Harry. "Right."

The next day, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Neville dictated a note to Hermione telling the Slytherins to meet them in a week in the courtyard at eight that evening.

The week passed, an end to Ron and Ginny's embarrassment far from Harry's sight. Their detentions and school services left them very tired each day and made them fall behind on schoolwork. Hermione, very timidly, pointed how far behind they had become to Professor McGonagall and asked if she could possibly cut down on their punishment time a bit so that they could get their work done. McGonagall had simply shaken her head.

"They did the crime, and they WILL do the time," she said sternly, sharply eying a crestfallen pair of Weasleys out of her classroom that day.

When Ron and Ginny woke up on Tuesday morning, it was with relief. They were both quite overjoyed about the fact that they were done with their detentions and school services. They were still being made fun of, but not as much. The amusement that it had held at first was now dying down. Now, Ron and Ginny's main problem was catching up on all of their schoolwork. After dinner on the night that they were supposed to meet the Slytherins, Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Luna had all agreed that Ron and Ginny should not worry about coming so that they could catch up on their schoolwork. Ron groaned, wanting to take any chance he could to get back at the Slytherins, but Ginny pointed out to him that they would be having their first Quidditch match soon and they could not be too behind on their homework when they had to practice for the game. Ron grudgingly stayed behind and pulled out his Herbology essay while Ginny sat across from him and commenced to work on a composition for a potion for Slughorn.

When Harry saw the six Slytherins approaching them from across the courtyard, he felt a stab of anger just at seeing them. He felt like turning the tables on them and looked forward to enjoying every bit of it.

"Wow," he said sarcastically, "you guys were actually brave enough to show up."

"Hey, Potter," Zabini sneered, "where's your queer Weasley friends, eh? Although, I guess they were probably too embarrassed to come. Doesn't surprise me, really."

"Yeah, well…well you won't be so confident after you've gone through-through the degradation we'll be g-giving you!" Neville said nervously, but, for him, assertively. Harry felt a stab of surprise and blinked. Neville rarely ever got confrontational. Harry felt pride and resisted the urge to give him a thump on the back.

"Right, well," Hermione said hurriedly, trying to avoid a fight, you guys go ahead and decide what pair you want to go first and that."

The Slytherins talked among themselves for a few minutes and then came back over to Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Luna.

"Me and Nott'll be first," Parkinson said grouchily. Nott did not seem to care. He was currently staring off into space with a blank expression on his face.

"Okay," Harry said, looking at his parchment. "You're kiss will take place at a quarter after noon on Friday. Come to the lake where the giant squid will hold you both up high in the air as you do it, and don't worry," Harry grinned, "there WILL be a crowd to see you. We've made sure of that."

Parkinson was gaping at Harry, appalled. Nott took a step forward.

"How exactly do you plan to get the squid to lift us up?" he asked sharply.

"Oh, we've already settled on an agreement for that," Harry said brightly. "Just make sure you bring your box of cheese crackers."

"My cheese…crackers……," Nott said in disbelief, sounding fearful for the first time.

"As for your dare, it will take place during Saturday's Quidditch match.. Meet us at the Gryffindor locker room at ten that morning." Harry looked up at the six Slytherins and felt triumphant when he saw their horrified expressions. He smirked. Hermione, Neville, and Luna were all laughing. "Well, till the match…"

He walked away, his friends following him, and he suddenly found that Friday was too far away for him to wait for this. In the Entrance Hall, he ran into Julie Taylor and told her the information she needed to know.

"Well," she smiled, "while I will do this judging proper justice, I hope you guys show those Slytherin bastards this weekend."

"Thanks, Taylor," Harry said as she walked away from them. He said quietly, more to himself than to anyone else, "We certainly will."


	9. Sweet Revenge

Author's note: Ok, I'm sorry this hasn't been updated in forever

Author's note: Ok, I'm sorry this hasn't been updated in forever. And I'm sorry for those I told I'd have it updated earlier. I got pretty sick and then loaded with a lot of school work that I had to focus on or I would get grounded again. Anyway, here's the next chapter of the story. Enjoy.

Friday had come, and Harry woke up to Ron hitting him in the face with a pillow. He sat up quickly in bed, pulling his wand out in alarm.

"I'll blast you with a Skunk Spray jinx, you hedgehog-faced buffoon," Harry said groggily, his eyes still half closed and pointing his wand around randomly.

"Skunk Spray jinx, eh?" Ron grinned. "Never heard of that one. You'll have to teach me. Anyway, today's Friday, mate!"

Harry looked up at Ron, whose face was blurry due to lack of glasses. He reached over at the bedside table and put them on, then returned his gaze to his best friend, who was looking at him as excitedly as if Christmas had come early.

"Friday…" Harry mumbled, trying to think of what was going on.

"Yes, Harry, Friday!" Ron said with both happiness and impatience. "The day that we get back at those asshole Slytherins!"

"Ohh…yeah," Harry said wisely, nodding and then falling back on his pillow.

"Harry, get _up_!" Ron smacked him with the pillow again. Harry groaned and looked at his watch.

"Blimey, Ron, it's not even seven…we don't typically get up till eight."

"I know, but I'm so excited. I just can't hide it." Ron started to dance as he sang. "I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!"

"_Never_ do that again," Harry said with fright as Ron spun around, slid onto one knee, and held his arms wide out.

Later on, after having gotten a little more sleep, Harry went down to the Common Room with Ron and met the girls. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville went to Potions and Charms before meeting Ginny and Luna on their way outside instead of going to lunch. Many fellow students followed them in large crowds that were talking excitedly. Harry looked up at one of the passing fliers that they had posted all over the castle walls and grinned as he walked out the doors with the others.

The large crowd of students made their way over to the lake, where there were some already waiting. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna spotted the six Slytherins and approached them, for the first time ever, eagerly.

Nott and Parkinson took a few steps forward and stopped, standing a few feet away from Harry's group and the large crowd behind them. The crowd standing behind the Slytherins was noticeably smaller, due to the fact that it was three houses united against one. Taylor came up to Harry from behind and tapped him on the shoulder to let him know she was there. Harry nodded, smirked with satisfaction, and walked directly up to Nott.

"Do you have the crackers?" he asked with a wicked smile. Nott paled and just stared at Harry fearfully for a moment before finally reaching under his robes and pulling out the box of cheese crackers. He held it out to Harry reluctantly, his grasp upon it firm, making it difficult for Harry to take it. He managed to pry it from his grip, however, and then walked up to the lake's edge, shaking the box so that its contents could be heard rattling inside it.

"Oh, Mr. Squidness!" Harry called with a smile. "We're ready for you."

Everyone around the lake waited in hushed anticipation. After a minute, a large tentacle broke the water's surface and everyone gasped. The rest of the tentacles followed, and the large, purple head of the giant squid. Its yellow eyes rested upon Harry and its purple lips curled into a smile, revealing gray teeth.

"You have the cheese crackers, Mr. Potter?" the squid asked.

"Right here, Mr. Squidness," Harry answered, holding up the box. One of the squid's tentacles snaked through the air and curved around the box, taking it from Harry. It lifted the box high above its mouth and then dropped the whole thing into the large, gaping hole.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Nott yelled, falling to his knees.

The giant squid chewed so everyone could hear all the cheese crackers in his mouth being crunched. He swallowed after a moment, then looked at Harry expectantly. The latter looked over his shoulder and waved for Nott and Parkinson, who both walked over with sullen expressions, as if they were approaching their execution. Harry backed away, hearing Parkinson give an audible gulp. The squid lifted two of its tentacles and grabbed both Nott and Parkinson, lifting both students up in the air. Parkinson shrieked; Nott just stared straight ahead of him, looking lifeless and apathetic due to the loss of his cheese crackers. The crowd of students below began to cackle; some pulled out Omnioculars. Harry and his group watched, grinning, before hearing a familiar voice behind him.

"Excuse me…_excuse_ me!" Professor McGonagall said sternly as she made her way through the crowd. Hermione and Neville both looked nervous at the sight of McGonagall but Harry's grin broadened as she found her way to his side.

"Ah, professor, what brings you out here?" Harry asked breezily as McGonagall looked up in the air, open-mouthed.

"What-what-what is going on here?" she asked incredulously, pointing at the squid, which was bringing the silent Nott and the shrill cries of Parkinson closer together.

"We aren't totally sure, professor. It appears that Nott and Parkinson have found love and wish to show it to everyone else."

Everyone watched as the giant squid closed the distance between Nott and Parkinson completely. Once all was still with the squid's tentacles, everyone in the crowd below held their breath.

"We have to do this, Parkinson," Nott groaned.

"I know, I know, you're right," Parkinson said nervously.

"For the cheese crackers."

"Wha-NOTT, SCREW YOUR CHEESE CRACKERS!" Parkinson glanced down and then lowered her voice to a whisper so only Nott could hear. "We've got to do this for the return of the Dark Lord."

"Oh. Yeah, that too," Nott said. "Well…"

Nott and Parkinson leaned towards each other, Parkinson's eyes shut tightly as she emitted a whimper.

They kissed, holding it for a full ten seconds as students in the crowd whistled and jeered. When they broke apart, the squid brought them safely back down to the ground, blushing hysterically, Parkinson on the verge of tears. The giant squid winked at Harry so that McGonagall did not see, and disappeared back under the water…

Much to Ron and Ginny's delight, Parkinson and Nott received a thorough dressing down in front of almost the whole school from Professor McGonagall. She commented on the vulgarity of their behavior and the childishness of it, and how ashamed they ought to be. She assured them that any more misdemeanors on their part and there would be serious consequences, after deducting five points from Slytherin. As she walked briskly away, she wondered aloud why so many students were choosing now to screw around.

The next day, Saturday, was the next quidditch match of the season, and the day that the Slytherins took participation in their first dare. The match was Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna sat in the empty Gryffindor locker room, waiting for the six Slyherins.

"Do you think it'll go as planned?" Neville asked, looking at Harry.

Harry watched the doorway, and the six Slytherins entered the locker room. His lip curled.

"There's no doubt in my mind, Neville," he said, standing up. The Slytherins halted and looked at Harry and the others warily. Nodding at a nearby locker, Harry said, "Parkinson, Nott, get your brooms. You don't want to be late for the match."

Nott and Parkinson exchanged looks of horror.


End file.
